


ride or die

by kyoloren



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fast and Furious, Alternate Universe - Mechanics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Car Sex, F/M, Family Drama, Matt the Radar Technician makes a cameo ;), Mild Smut, Rivals to Lovers, Rose and Kaydel are lesbians and dating (I don’t make the rules I just write the characters), Secret Relationship, Secret dating, Semi-Public Sex, Street Racing, Texting, car talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:15:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22465525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyoloren/pseuds/kyoloren
Summary: Thirty years ago, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Kenobi had a falling out that created a feud between their two car garage shops. Rey is a die hard racer who hates the Skywalker crew more than anyone, especially their lead driver, Ben Solo.After a near-death experience, Rey learns that perhaps the schism is a load of shit and maybe Ben Solo isn't all that bad after all...
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 26
Kudos: 165





	ride or die

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry that summary is the worst. Anyway, I love the Fast & Furious franchise and decided to write this fic. It was meant to be short but got out of hand. There's a lot less car racing than I originally planned, but that's probably good for all y'all.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this mess.

It was Friday, which meant it was racing night. The air was sticky, filled with dust and ribcage-rattling music. The trunk of a lemon yellow '95 Mitsubishi Eclipse was popped open, revealing a set of speakers almost too big to fit into the small space. Lines of cars were meticulously parked along the side of the street, hoods popped open on some, revealing turbo engines, nitrous systems and hundreds or thousands of dollars in custom pieces.

The music playing was heavy dance music with bass that shook people's teeth and car windows. Girls done up in stilettos, short skirts, tiny tops and big hair danced and laughed in groups or crowded around their favorite cars and drivers. There was still a significant amount of space left in the second line of cars that was empty.

Rey tried to ignore that space as she pulled her hair up off her neck. It was hot as balls out and while having hair down, perfectly curled into waves was a signature thing, she didn't care. She pulled a band off her wrist and tied her hair back in a floppy bun. She wasn't here as a groupie, she was a driver and mechanic. She figured she was eyecandy enough in her short denim cutoffs and white tanktop, flashy with neon colored Adidas and the psychedelic hoops hanging from her ears.

Catching the eyes of a group of girls surrounding Poe Dameron, Rey flashed her big toothy smile and did a little dance on her way to her car. It was her pride and joy, sitting just about three inches above the road, custom to the last bolt on the frame. The 1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 was bright white with a geometric orange and grey paint job. Strip lights ran along the interior cab and along the bottom of the frame. She ran an almost affectionate hand down the front fender just as the deep-rooted rumble of the last cars arrived.

Her good mood instantly darkened, a pinched frown overcoming her face.

Unlike most of the other cars on the road, the latecomers were _purists_ who believed in American muscle over anything newer than 1980. The lead car, a flat black '70 Charger, had a chrome plated shaker scoop looming out of the hood. Rey had eyes for that car and watched it roar down the road and pull closer. Her ears popped as it backed into a spot and the others followed: Mustang, Roadrunner, Chevelle, Super Bee.

They were the _enemy_ , those American muscle cars. Not just because of the races, but because they were from the Skywalker family. As one of the members of the Niima crew, Rey had grown up with a strong hatred for anyone associated with the Skywalker Autobody & Repair shop. That and the Niima Auto House had been in a generations old feud for thirty years now.

She scowled as the Skywalkers got out of their vehicles. There was Ben Solo, their lead racer, and his parents, Leia and Han, who got out of the last car to arrive: a red and white Oldsmobile. They had some other racers too, but Rey turned away from them and popped open her car's door. It was cramped inside, but she liked it snug. She was racing tonight but she hadn't been privy to who she'd be facing.

Just minutes after the arrival of the Skywalkers came the first races; they were all cars like Rey's: new, lightweight, customized. One was painted like the fish from _Rainbow Fish_ but it surprisingly worked. Rey started up her engine and then returned to the fray, finding her fellow Niimas: sisters Rose and Paige, Poe Dameron, Kaydel Connix were all racers, and their matriarchs were Auntie Maz and Amilyn Holdo. Maz was old enough to have known Kenobi and to have opened up Niima with him. Amilyn was a few decades younger.

As Rey came over, Amilyn, tall and thin, wearing a tight red top and high-waisted _mom_ jeans and wedges, waved and hugged the shorter girl around her shoulders. "Ready for the race?" she yelled close to Rey's ear.

Rey nodded, grinning. She caught Paige's eyes and the other woman wiggled her eyebrows at Rey and glanced over Rey's shoulder. Rey pretended not to see it and felt herself tense when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Guess it's you and me," Ben Solo shouted, his voice still somehow smooth like butter.

Rey would have been pissed if it didn't mean she had a chance to prove her car was better than his. She spun around, placing one hand on her hip. He looked like he always did: tall, in a black t-shirt, black jeans and black boots. His hair was long and annoying soft looking in the streetlights.

"Why don't you just give me your bets now and you can avoid the embarrassment of me kicking your ass?" she said, holding out her other hand. There was a delicate little tattoo of stars along her wrist leading to the fleshy part of her thumb.

Ben cocked his head and grinned, full of ease and confidence. "And miss the fun of leaving you in the dust? Hell no."

Kaydel sneered something at him that Rey didn't catch but it left him shrugging in indifference and turning around to head toward his car. Once he was gone, Amilyn tugged Rey closer to the Niima crew.

"What was that?" Rose asked, wrinkling her nose. "You barely hurt his feelings." She wrapped an arm around the bronzed and big-blonde-haired Kaydel. "Kay came up with something better than that. Are you feeling okay?"

Rey sighed and waved her hand, not responded. Amilyn caught Maz's shoulder and turned the eldest of their crew into the circle. The two of them were exact opposites: Amilyn was nearly six feet tall, regal and elegant and Maz wasn't even five foot tall and covered in wrinkles, a bandana always wrapped over her thinning white hair.

The wall of their backs created a tiny space in between them that wasn't assaulted by the dance music. "You beat that boy to the ground," Maz told Rey, waving her finger at the young woman. Maz was one of the few people still around who remembered what had happened between Ben "Obi" Kenobi and Ankain Skywalker to create the schism between the two shops and families and her grudge had been what Rey grew up on.

"Wouldn't dream of letting him win," Rey said easily, shrugging a shoulder. Across the circle, Poe Dameron grinned. He was even more competitive than she was. "Who're you up against tonight?"

"No one special," he said. "No Skywalkers. I'll leave the ass kicking to you."

As a sharp blaring horn cut through, it was Rey's cue as the next racer. She started to leave the group when Rose yelled, "Good luck!"

"Don't need luck!" Rey yelled back, walking backward. She didn't believe in luck, she believed in her own hard work under the hood. She made it to her car in just a few dozen steps and got inside. The dash lit up and she eased the car out of the spot as people slowly moved out of the way. A number of Poe's groupies slapped kisses on their hands and tapped the car as she drove by them. She laughed and waved at them with her fingertips.

Creeping toward the line, she took a few deep breaths as the adrenaline shot through her veins. She somehow felt equal parts calm and tense when she was in a car, especially just about to race. The right-side steering made it so that she was closest to the Charger as it pulled up beside her with a lurch. Ben sat behind the wheel and looked as cool and calm as always. He glanced over at her, but Rey turned her attention straight ahead so she didn't get distracted.

Phasma, one of Skywalkers, walked up to start the race like they were meeting under a bridge in the '50s. She was nearly seven feet tall in her high chunky heels, rocking black denim overalls cut into shorts, a red bandeau around her chest and her hair done up big like she was going to prom in the '80s.

Rey laid her hand on the gearshift and breathed through her nose. Her eyes were on Phasma, and she dismissed all the noise and clamour of the gathering behind her. The tall blonde yelled out a countdown and then bent at the hips to signal GO. Rey slammed her car into gear and shot forward.

She had a faster start but Ben caught up quick and they stayed nose to nose for far too long for Rey's liking. There was another crowd waiting at the far end, cameras ready to catch photos of whoever got over the line first. Focusing entirely on winning, Rey let Ben get two feet ahead before she pulled out her secret tLam and shot forward just in time to shoot over the finish line nearly half a car before the Charger.

The Nissan slowed to a screeching, twisting halt, smoke filling the sticky air as the tires slid across asphalt. Grinning, she got out, standing on the running board and shooting her words across the roof. "I expect you to race for pinks next time, Ben Solo!" He looked over at her and she knew he'd heard her. "Not that I know what I'd do with a piece of junk like your trash heap but…" She shrugged and slipped back behind the wheel before he could retort.

Tires spinning, she shot around the corner street and made her way back down to the starting line.

oOo

The next day was Saturday. Rey worked at Macy's on the weekends until five so she could go to races if there were any. She had to put on her _nice clothes_ and work at the perfume counter or any of the makeup stations, along with a handful of other women. Today, she'd been working at the lipstick station since she got back from her thirty minute lunch.

She managed to sell ten of them today. She was a damn good saleswoman and she also did not take no as an answer easily so she often sold products. Which was good for her commission. The last hours of her shifts were going to drag; she could feel it deep in her soul. The last ten minutes had felt like thirty and she had almost two hours to go.

As she went through the samples and cleaned the case, she let her mind wander, thinking of the tweaks she wanted to do to her car, and rolling around the propulsion problem Rose had presented her last night when they were drinking beers on the roof over the porch. The Niima crew all exclusively lived in a large three-story house from the Victorian era; it had plenty of bedrooms, and enough space for all of them.

Rey hardly noticed when her two remaining coworkers started to whisper between themselves. She focused on her cleaning, nose scrunching up in concentration.

"Excuse me."

Rey's hand slipped and she smashed her knuckles against the bottom of the case. She cursed through gritted teeth and rubbed her hand, spinning around. Standing there was Ben Solo, looking a little more dressed up than usual in a black button-down and leather jacket instead of his usual t-shirt.

She had a momentary blip of worry flash into her brain: was he here about last night? She only said the pinks thing to rile him up—even though she did think his Charger was paltry compared to her Nissan.

He smiled wide down at her, showing his crooked teeth and shoved his hands into his jeans' pockets. "Sorry."

She shook out her hand and glanced at the display behind her. "Can I interest you in some lipstick?" She resisted the urge to smirk.

"Uh...no thanks." He looked actually sheepish, the tips of his ears growing red. He slowly brought her away from her coworkers as he walked toward the larger U-shaped perfume counter.

She followed him like a satellite caught in orbit. "We have an assortment of colognes," she offered in her sales associate voice.

"Are you implying I smell bad?" He arched his eyebrows, glancing away from her face for a moment to look over the overly sexualized marketing photos for the scents.

Rey sniffed and tilted her head to the side. "Not if your girlfriend likes sweat and oil."

Ben pressed his lips together in thought. "What about these?" He pointed with his long fingers at the women's side of the counter.

"You want to smell like a flower?" It was _really_ hard not to smile.

"Is it better than a garage?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "Depends on the girl."

Ben nodded, pretending to look through the numerous bottles. Most were shaped like flowers or smooth and slender and sensual. He eventually leaned down with crossed arms against the counter. He looked up at her through his thick eyelashes. "Which one of these would you suggest I get for her?"

Rey couldn't resist. She crossed her own arms and leaned against her side of the counter. The perfume counters weren't overly deep and she could look quite easily right into his eyes, feel the lightest of breaths on her face from between his slightly parted lips. She allowed a lazy smile to tug onto her face. "I think the um...320 dollar bottle." It was the most expensive perfume they kept in store.

He was a little surprised but covered it up well. "Ah, yes. I'll just grab some pocket change." He chuckled a little bit.

Rey rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "What kind of girl dates a guy who doesn't carry four hundred bucks on him at all times?"

"Dunno. You tell me."

During their entire conversation they had been slowly leaning toward each other and now, a hair's breadth between their lips.

"Rey!" A screeching voice made her jump back like a startled rabbit. She quickly found her cool, trying to keep her face from falling into a deep scowl as she shuffled her way toward the floor manager.

"What?" Rey asked, a little snippy.

The woman, Larma, put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me? What was that? Didn't you take that sexual harassment class?"

Rey's face flushed in embarrassment. "What? He...I...we know each other," she settled on just _in case_ someone was around.

Larma pointed a finger at Rey. "I don't care if he's your god damn husband, you do not kiss customers!"

"We didn't kiss."

"Rey…"

Rey really needed to keep this job. She swallowed the part of her that wanted to make a scene and put on her best sales associate smile. "Of course, you're right. I'm sorry. Won't happen again."

Larma narrowed her eyes at her for a moment before nodding sharply and walking away. Rey turned around, allowing herself a moment of having an angry face before settling her eyes on Ben. She gave him a slightly sympathetic look and he waved and took off, heading into the mall.

Heaving a sigh, Rey leaned behind the counter and pulled out the glass cleaner to clean where they'd smudged the glass, stopping herself from running after him. If she kissed him _outside_ of the store, did that count?

Cursing mentally, she scrubbed the counter. She had never thought she'd end up in this situation, but here she was. It all started six months ago…

oOo

_**Six Months Earlier** _

During the parts of the weekdays when she wasn't working in the shop, Rey worked in the convenience and grocery store on the corner. It was fully staffed by Niima crew, and everyone did their time. Amilyn was the owner by name, but everyone worked there so she didn't have to get outside staff.

Today it was Rey and Paige. Rey had just finished stocking the fridges with soda and popped the top of a can of Diet Coke. It was hot inside without air conditioning. The door was propped open and there were three fans attempting to blow air around. It was always hot here in Jakku though; that's what they got for living in a place with only one season: summer.

Rey pushed wispy bits of hair off her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand and leaned against the counter to sip her Coke. Paige stayed seated behind the counter, flipping through a magazine filled with more fake drama than any one person could stand.

Except Paige. She lived for drama. She snickered as she read stories about people getting caught cheating, knowing it was all for show and most of the shit in the tabloid-types didn't actually happened. It kept her mind occupied at least.

Occupied enough not to notice when Rey spotted a certain black-clad Skywalker walking across the street. Rey scoffed in the back of her throat and let out a "Shit" when he turned and walked toward the store.

The bell over the door didn't go off on account of it already being open, but Ben Solo announced himself with a "Hey" as if he came here often. He didn't. Rey was slack jawed, staring at him, waiting for him to burst into flames for stepping onto enemy territory. His hair was damp with sweat and he headed toward the fridges.

Paige pinched Rey's shoulder. Rey whirled around and widened her eyes. Paige looked ready to burst out laughing.

"What are you doing here?" Rey asked, walking around the shelves in the middle of the store. She crossed her tanned and freckled arms, hating how short she felt in her flat sandals.

"Getting a drink," Ben said pulling a can of Arizona Iced Tea out of the fridge. He glanced around. "This is an establishment where you exchange goods for money, right?"

Rey scowled at him. "The fuck are you actually doing here?"

Ben shook the can.

"Is it a ploy or a distraction or something?"

"I'm just fucking thirsty," he said, his tone right on the line between amused and pissed off.

She stared at him for a good solid minute before she muttered, "Fucking Skywalkers," under her breath and went back to the counter to stand guard as he bought his tea.

Paige rang him up and he handed over three dollars and waited for his change. Rey ground her teeth together and wanted to kick him in the shin and maybe slap him in the face when he tilted the coins into the "TIPS" jar on the counter.

"See ya on the black," he said, glancing at Rey and raising his can to her before leaving. Rey stood there, fuming. She swore there was steam pouring out of her ears. How dare he! How dare he just step in here knowing it was part of the Niima territory. They were _enemies_ ; it went deeper than blood, they were meant to hate each other. And he just _waltzed_ in here like he was _allowed_.

"You good?" Paige asked as Rey worked her jaw and let out a strangled yell between her teeth.

Rey snatched up her Coke and took a long chug of it. "Bastard," she muttered.

Paige glanced at the doorway—Ben Solo was long gone by now—and then sat back with a shrug, crossing her arms over her abdomen. "He's hot."

Rey choked on her drink. She coughed, holding onto the edge of the counter until she caught her drink.

"What?" Paige said innocently.

"You can't be serious."

"Look, I'm not blind. Ben Solo is a full course meal and if you can't see it than I feel sorry for you."

Rey sputtered, gripping the can until it creaked and snapped. "He's named after _Ben Kenobi_. I kind of have to hate him."

"There's a thin line," Paige sing-songed with a smirk before frowning. "And did you ever even meet Ben Kenobi?"

Rey cleared her throat and pressed her can against her cheek. It wasn't that cold so it was unsatisfying. "I knew him when I was just a kid and Amilyn took me in. Just before he died. You must have met him too." She didn't mention that was because Paige was a handful of years older than Rey.

"I mean Rose and I only seriously became part of Niima when I was sixteen. He was gone by then."

"Oh yeah." Rey had spent her whole life with the Niima crew, sometimes she forgot that some of them came in later in life. She was eleven when Paige and Rose came to them; it felt like they'd never _not_ been there. They were her sisters in everything but blood.

"Your feud is ridiculous," Paige said.

Rey gasped.

"I said what I said."

Rey shook her head in disbelief. But she knew that she wouldn't say anything to Maz or Amilyn about what Paige said. You didn't snitch on your family. And it wasn't like Paige did anything _wrong_. She never stopped by anything in the Skywalker side of the city, she stole a number of customers from them, and while she never trashtalked them—that was all Rey, Kaydel and Poe's business—she could hold her own in a good staring contest across car roofs.

Rey finished off her drink, still fuming, and was thankful when a bunch of rowdy teenagers came in because it gave her something to keep her mind occupied.

oOo

The heat spell finally broke in Jakku and the city was thankful. Ben Solo more-so than most since his wardrobe consisted of black clothes only and he spent most of his days sweating his ass off. The nights were getting cool again and the mornings too.

It was one of these mornings that Ben walked from his studio apartment the two blocks to Skywalker Auto Body & Repair; he usually took his Charger but there were limited parking spaces and he was there to work. He was in jeans and a black t-shirt as per usual: it was easier to hide grease stains that way.

His parents, who had inherited the shop by name from his uncle Luke, had the small house directly behind the shop. Luke lived by the university in the center of the city of Jakku and rarely came out this way since he got tenure. The shop was in good hands anyway.

Today Han was already in the shop, standing under someone's minivan up on a lift. "Mornin' Dad," Ben said, walking through the side of the bay toward the back of the office.

Han grunted a response and Ben pushed the door open and stepped inside. Leia Organa-Solo sat in the back office going through invoices, which was a surprise. Usually she put that stuff on Hux, the utterly annoying pastey ginger dude that had stumbled into their shop six years ago and never left. He had a nice car—a dark blue '68 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500—and it had been easy enough to convince Leia that he was worth keeping around to do the numbers.

Ben didn't like the guy. He was slippery like a weasel, always talking as if he was set to get the shop once Han and Leia retired. It rubbed Ben the wrong way; plus the dude couldn't actually fix jack shit. Sure he could project their earnings and handle the bills with his sharp mind but when it came to what was under the hood? He was shit.

"What's up?" Ben asked, pulling on one of the blue shirts hanging off a railing beside the door. It had his name embroidered on a patch. He pulled it over his t-shirt.

"The usual," Leia said without looking up, though she did pause and turn up her face as Ben came over and leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. "'67 Trans Am coming in at nine, you'll want to get your hands on that."

Ben glanced at the clock: it was eight-forty-five. "Nice. Where's Hux?"

"Asked for the morning off," Leia replied, frowning at her hands full of paper. "Slimy little critter that one."

"That's one way to put it," Ben snorted, pausing to pour himself a coffee and drinking it black. It tasted better than tar, but not by much. Walking back into the garage area, Ben lifted his cup to the few people already here: Finn in the corner watching a stupid video on his phone waiting for their appointments to flood in, and Phasma, who wasn't just a pretty face but could fix anything with her eyes closed. She may or may not have been Chewie's daughter—their respective heights were a giveaway—but it had never been verified. Didn't really matter though; she was family, point blank.

After pacing around making sure everything was in order, Ben walked over to Han, ducking under the van's front driver's wheel and sipping his coffee. "What did a soccer mom do to scrape up the undercarriage so bad?" he mused.

Beside him, his father grunted again. Never a morning person, Han was a man of little words on a good day unless he was trading insults with the Niima crew. "Wish I knew, son," he grumbled, ducking under the car and moving toward the counter nearby. Ben followed, enjoying the quiet in the shop before the chaos began.

"When's the last time you raced?" Ben asked, unprompted. Ben had grown up on races: drag races on the outskirts by the desert had been his first introduction, a little kid of five sitting on Han's shoulders, big noise cancelling headphones protecting his young ears. By seven, he could name just about every part to the V8 engine that sat in his parent's Oldsmobile. He would lean over the fender of any car with a hood open, feet dangling in the air and pointing out what would need to be checked. He had a vague recollection of his grandfather, Anakin, who died when he was eight, but he knew the man lived and breathed cars.

Anakin Skywalker's mint '36 Ford Model 48 had been a soft denim blue with a tan canvas convertible top and flawless whitewalls. Ben remembered sitting behind the wheel but not being able to reach the pedals, looking at the weird dashboard and console. By now, Anakin's voice was murky in Ben's head, but the car was still kickin'. It had been gifted to Luke, who, no matter how much he tried to ignore his heritage, knew more about cars than probably all of the professors at UOJ (University of Jakku) combined and kept the car in top shape.

Needless to say, the car gene ran through Ben's veins from both his parents. According to Leia, she'd met Han at a street race, thought he was an arrogant piece of shit but he fell head over heels almost instantly. The rest was history, as they said, but Ben knew that Han still had the same sense of thrill when he got behind the wheel of the Oldsmobile.

"Dunno," Han said, tossing a towel over his shoulder and putting his hands on his hips. "Couple years probably, kid."

Ben nodded, working up the words to ask if Han wanted to take a race at the next meet but the rumble of the first new car of the morning drowned out his thoughts. The Trans Am was black with gold detailing and loud as hell. Ben walked around the van and lifted his hand in greeting to the driver, who pulled the car into the middle vacant bay where Ben was waiting.

Time to get to work.

oOo

A couple days later was Friday: race night. Unlike last Friday, the Skywalker crew arrived along with half of the contestants and spectators rather than dead last. Despite the numerous matchbox tuners parked along the street, the Skywalker's American muscle cars got a fair amount of attention too.

Across the street, the Niima crew was parked with their cars multicolored like Skittles. Ben could make out Rey, their youngest mechanic and driver. She was pretty cute...as long as her mouth stayed shut. He thought back to earlier during the week when he'd popped into the corner store she and the other Niima's worked at. He hadn't planned it, but after a date-gone-wrong had left him three blocks from his Charger, he'd had to walk in the heat and it was the only store in that residential area.

He smirked a little, remembering her downright hostile nature of him buying something. He knew there were _rules_ with the feud, with the city of Jakku split between the two shops and racing being the only time they were in the same place, but he still found it funny. He'd never realized Rey would be so pissed at him even off the asphalt.

Ben should have expected it though. She was the most vocal of them all, though the other one, Poe, could throw out his fair share of demeaning snark against them. So far tonight though, the Niimas had stuck to their side and the Skywalkers to theirs.

Lower-pot three and four car races filled the air with revving engines and burnt rubber. Ben leaned back against the grill of his car as girls dressed in leather jackets and short shirts and tall heels came over. Some of them were more than pretty faces, actually knowing a thing or two about cars, but a lot of them just came for the excitement and the sex they'd inevitably have with any number of drivers pulled up along the street.

Ben had fucked many a groupie in his time and he wasn't ashamed of it. Not everyone could find their soulmate at twenty like his mom did. Before he could get too crowded by the ladies, he heard the sound of a familiar engine and strained his eyes in the opposite direction of where the current race roared down the blacktop.

Out between scantly clad women and a whole slew of gangster, suave, and sloppily dressed dudes came the oldest car on the lot: Anakin Skywalker's old '36 Ford. Pushing off from his car, Ben walked over to Chewie, who was sitting on the hood of his lime green Roadrunner; a massive man of seven feet tall, all Deadhead beard and long hair waving down his back.

"Luke's here," Ben said loudly into Chewie's ear, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. The taller man stood and looked as the car inched through the crowd toward the rest of the Skywalker gang. The car looked out of place at a race, but it was still shining from bumper to bumper. Leia was the first one over, grabbing the door through the open window even before Luke had stopped completely.

The twins spoke, their words drowned out by the music booming from a number of cars lining the street. Ben headed over to the old school racer as he uncle got out. Luke had handed off the business pretty much as soon as Anakin had passed away; he was just getting traction at the university and he didn't have the time for it. It had caused a bit of friction between the twins but that had gone away over the years. With a full blood-war between the Skywalkers and Niimas, it wasn't like they could afford a civil war too.

"Never thought I'd see the day," Ben said loudly, face splitting into a grin. He and Luke hugged quickly and Luke gripped his shoulder.

"I've seen you race before," Luke said, voice on the verge of questioning.

"About five years ago," Ben pointed out, but kept his tone good natured. He took a few minutes to check out the Ford alongside Han and father and son found it satisfactory. Ben didn't have much time to talk before his first race of the night came up.

It was a four car race, but it had one of the bigger betting pools of the night. It was him and Poe Dameron of the Niima crew, and two other fairly decent drivers. Ben only really cared about beating Poe, though the extra money from winning would be nice too.

The Charger purred as he rolled to the start line. There was something intrinsically primal about older American muscle cars. Ben couldn't quite describe it, but it was what it was. He didn't feel a hint of desire to pop the hood of any of the plastic looking boxes along the line with him. Relaxing back in the seat, Ben let the noise of the street fall away and he got in the zone.

Phasma called start off to the side, the street not wide enough for four cars to get around her if she stood on the yellow lines. Ben shifted and hit the gas, his car lurching forward with a roar. He'd be lying if he said he didn't love how loud his car was; it wasn't a buzzing, fake loud either. It was all pure V8 horsepower.

Dameron's boxcar was grey and it shot forward along with the Charger. The other two cars matched them for speed for about half the way and then fell back a few feet, leaving Poe inching forward and Ben letting his calm control his body like it was a sentient force. If he got tense, that's when he fucked up.

The finish line looming, Ben gunned it, and made it over the line at the same time as Poe. Only then did he allow himself to grit his teeth as he downshifted to a quick stop. There were cameras set up to catch exactly who came in first. Someone grabbed one of them and zoomed in as Ben slid out of his car, sitting on the open window, arms resting on the roof.

"Dameron wins by an inch!" Someone yelled.

Ben grunted and would have slammed his fist against his car if he didn't catch himself. He took the long way 'round back to the Skywalker section as another race set up. He'd have another race later, but he had a sour taste in his mouth from that loss.

As he got out of the Charger and leaned heads with Chewie, Phasma and Finn, Ben told himself that at least he hadn't lost to Rey. They were both the lead racers of their respective crews if Ben's score keeping was right. Over the past five years he'd beat her just a few more times than she beat him, which was pretty good considering she'd barley been legal to drive during her first race. He remembered the insults tossed from his side to the Niima side about a fifteen year old racing. She'd beat everyone that night but Ben and started her reputation strong.

He had to admit that he had respect for her, even if she shat on him whenever she got the chance. Like now. He watched as she, arm slung around Poe, walked closer to where he and the others were standing.

She put on a huge smile that seemed to overtake her face, but Ben couldn't tell if there was any humor in it or if it was all wolf's teeth. "Aww, what a tough night," she said, pouting a little as a gaggle of girls coming after Poe surrounded the two drivers. Ben's crew hadn't quite disappeared, but they were continuing their conversation behind him. "Maybe next time we can fit you with some training wheels and you can try again."

Her mocking tone grated on his nerves. Ben crossed his arms and looked down at her. "Don't think an inch constitutes a big win."

"Size matters," Poe said with a chuckle, hooking his arms around two girls in miniskirts.

"He's not wrong." Rey's eyes could have sliced him in half. "I think this belongs to you." She dug into her bomber jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. She tossed them at his face but they fell short and rained down on his boots. "We don't need your petty cash."

He didn't move to pick up the money and Rey stared at him for another minute before smirking and twisting away. Poe and the crowd of women followed. "Hope you drive over a box of nails!" Ben called after them.

Finn popped up a second later, nudging Ben's elbow. "What was that about?"

"What else?" Ben sighed, leaving the scattering of change on the ground.

Finn laughed. "She really hates you man."

"Don't you hate them?"

"Yeah, fuck 'em. But she _really_ hates you," Finn patted Ben's shoulder, laughed again with a shake of his head and headed toward his car for the next race. Ben watched the black and white Chevelle ease out of the spot and moved to settle down next to his uncle who was resting against Han and Leia's red Oldsmobile.

"D'you miss it?" Ben asked, leaning closer. He knew that Luke used to race, back before college and studies swallowed him up.

Luke looked slightly out of place, like an old dog amidst a horde of puppies. "Lot's changed. Some things are the same." He nodded toward the Niima crew. Luke, Chewie and Ben's parents were the only ones who remembered life before the schism between Ben's namesake and Ben's grandfather. Ben had been six months old when the split happened. He grew up with the feud.

"Still at the Niima's throats?" Luke asked as the engines of the next set of racing cars revved in anticipation of Phasma's GO.

"All day, every day," Ben said, crossing his arms again, eyes sliding from the back of Finn's car over to the Niima crew. Their weakest driver, Kaydel Connix, was up against Finn. Finn was _also_ Skywalker's newest and weakest driver, so it really was a toss-up who would win.

Luke sighed and shook his head, but said nothing against the Niimas and nothing about the feud. It was too loud for Ben to ask his uncle why he'd come out tonight of all nights and as the night stretched on, there was never an opportunity for it.

oOo

Chandrila was the next city over, about a two and a half hour drive—with Rey driving; nearly four hours for an average person—from the edge of one city to the next. Rey was on her way there to pick up some parts for a couple custom jobs and personal work to her Nissan a couple days after the last racing Friday. Poe hated making parts runs, as did Kaydel so Rose and Paige and Rey rotated the chore.

Rey loved it honestly: the road from Jakku to Chandrila was straight as a runway and cops never hung out there because there wasn't a damned thing on the road except a couple cactus plants and tumbleweeds. She could cruise at ninety the whole way and get there with enough time to grab parts, get lunch and make it back before the shop closed.

There were some parts that were faster to get this way than trying to haggle and get them to Jakku.

Chandrila was a city of skyscrapers instead of hills like Jakku. Rey liked it; it was sleek and sharp and felt like she'd just stepped foot in the future. The place the Niima crew got their parts was easy to find: a big warehouse garage that was mostly used to strip and customize cars. They didn't do public car work like both the Niima and Skywalker shops did; one couldn't be too picky in Jakku and changing the oil in a family sedan paid the bills better than doing exclusive work.

Rey's white and orange Nissan came to a sharp halt at the side of the building. Once she opened the door she could hear the sound of an intense sound system from within the building. The bay doors were closed, but she walked through the normal door on the side and found herself in mostly one big room, filled with a number of cars of numerous bright colors reminding Rey of the driveway and lot next to the Niima house.

Most of the time she spent picking up parts was pointless conversation with the guys in the garage. She was prickly as a porcupine and they'd quickly learned that they'd get nowhere with her, but that didn't stop them from being jerks occasionally.

The parts filling up her trunk and her cramped backseat was all she came here for, but Rey found herself coerced into going back inside and heading to the loft built on what looked like flimsy scaffolding. She was given a beer which she didn't feel like drinking, but didn't mind so much sitting up on a comfy couch as two of the assholes—Doza and Lam—went down to change the music playlist.

They were gone for a minute before one of the bay doors was pulled violently open from outside. Muffled yelling reached Rey's ears and she peered casually over the side of the loft.

"Shit," she hissed, ducking down when she saw a few guys in ski-masks and one with a shotgun down on the floor. A small car carrier was attached to a beat up blue truck. Rey continued to curse under her breath, sliding down to the floor. Snap, the other guy sitting up there with her got up like a dumbass and yelled down, waving his beer. Rey jumped when a shot went off. She squeezed her eyes shut and was thankful that when she opened them there wasn't a faceless corpse in her line of sight. The robbers must have just shot a warning toward the ceiling.

But now they knew she was up there too, because the loft asshole told them. They waved her down with yells in English and Italian and those waving guns. One of them had a gun, two of them were starting to load the cars in the garage onto the car carrier.

To keep herself calm, she mentally repeated on loop a set of the most foul curses she could think that would have made Maz grin. Keeping her hands up, she tried not to look at the gun. She couldn't do anything about guns. Like a pair of dumbasses, Lam and Doza started complaining and the yell that escaped her mouth when the shot went off, this time hitting flesh, was loud and rang through the garage.

Lam was on the ground swearing and bleeding and rolling around. Rey felt bile rise in her throat and all she wanted was to be gone in her car, driving far away from here. Where the fuck was the security for this place?

She shuffled back and one of her hands twisted at her side found what felt like a sturdy length of pipe. A glimmer of hope wiggled its way through her panic. If she could knock out the shotgun guy with a single swing or get the gun out of his hands, they maybe had a chance of stopping the robbery _and_ saving the cars. Her palms her sweaty.

Just as she was starting to wonder how long she'd be here, trying to convince herself to take on an armed attacker, there was a sound from outside. A scuffle. It brought Rey down from a near panic attack because she had something to focus on. Snap, the guy who'd be on the loft without her, had been slowly pulling his phone out of his back pocket. Rey held her breath and there was a distinct noise of a fight outside. The guy with the shotgun hesitated before backing up toward the open garage door. His grip on the gun loosened as he poked his head outside.

Rey saw a fist knock his head back. He stumbled and the gun was wrenched out of his hands and within thirty seconds the guy was down.

There was silence in the garage aside from the loud ass music blasting through the speakers. Their savior, whoever he was, popped the safety on the gun and set it down at the unconscious robber's feet before stepping inside. Like a spell broken, Doza turned off the music, leaving Rey's ears ringing. Snap got on the phone to the cops or the hospital, Rey didn't know. She was too focused on the guy who walked in from outside.

"Ben Solo?" she said, flabbergasted and really wanting to do anything but see _him_ right now. She was sure her face was blotchy red from the panic of the whole thing and she felt that familiar anger boil up in her.

He spotted her and frowned with his whole face: eyes, mouth, eyebrows, the whole thing. Before he could say anything, Rey was already speaking, her voice quickly rising in volume:

"What. The. Hell. What are _you_ doing here? What the _fuck._ "

Ben's expression soured. "You're welcome," he said, since he _had_ just taken down four—including the driver—dudes and saved her skin. She knew she should have thanked him, but she just wanted to yell.

"I don't believe this! I was just about to—ARGH!" She tugged her hands through her hair, ignoring how they were shaking. "Why are you suddenly popping up everywhere? What did I do to deserve this?" With a dramatic wail, she sat down on the bottom metal stair and scraped her hands over her scalp. Lam, Doza and Snap seemed to have forgotten her and didn't even bat an eye at Ben. Lam had a tourniquet wrapped around his thigh as Doza and Snap got their cars off the carrier and strapped the would-be-robbers hands together with zip ties. Rey could hear sirens in the distance.

Ben bristled. "I wasn't exactly expecting to have to take down a gang of fucking car thieves today," he muttered.

Rey squinted her eyes in confused and tilted her head up to look at him. "Wait a minute. Why are _you_ here? There's no American muscle here." She waved a hand at the Nissans, Hondas and Mitsubishis being pushed back into the garage.

"Best place to get parts," Ben said shortly, crossing his arms.

Rey got up slowly, using the poor excuse for a bannister to steady herself. Her brow furrowed further as she tried to make sense of the situation. "You're here for parts," she said slowly.

"Yeah. You?"

"I didn't come here to get shot at," Rey laughed bitterly. "My car is filled with with a parts order."

They both stood there as the sirens got closer. Rey had never thought about how people outside of the Niima and Skywalkers viewed their family feud. In Jakku, it was pretty obvious that there was loyalty to either one, since Niima had the East side and the West was for the Skywalkers, but everyone mingled pretty easily at the street races. And in Chandrila?

Eyes wide, she looked around with new eyes.

"Shit," she muttered. She racked her brain for the fight that had split the shops and couldn't remember what she'd been told. And obviously no one in Chandrila was loyal to either one or the other. No one else fucking cared.

She avoided Ben's gaze and stumbled toward her car, wanting to leave before the cops could question her but she didn't make it much farther than outside the door before she threw up. A couple cop cars and an EMT SUV pulled up and she sank down to the concrete stairs.

oOo

_No one fucking cares_ , Rey had said during a moment of civility between them at the garage in Chandrila just as the cops were questioning the robbers and the EMT was done loading Lam into the ambulance that had arrived a couple minutes after the others. _No one fucking cares about our families fighting but us_.

She had seemed peeved and disbelieving, as if her entire life had just been pulled out from under her like a rug. Ben hadn't said anything in response, but her words made sense. He'd never bumped into a Niima at the parts garage, but according to Snap, they sold to literally anyone. And it got Ben thinking.

Back in Jakku—with his parts because Snap was good enough to hand 'em over before Ben had to leave—he spent that night lying awake in his studio apartment wondering what it all meant. Not just the realization that literally no one gave a shit about whatever went down between Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker thirty years ago, but the realization that most of the people left to keep the rivalry alive hadn't even been alive to witness the...whatever it was. Fight. Falling out. Whatever the fuck it was.

Another racing weekend came and went. Ben won the two races, one of them against Rey; she was distracted and barely smacktalked him. She even managed a look or two in his direction that wasn't filled with daggers and animosity.

On Monday, Ben found himself at the grocery store. The girl from before, Paige, was there alone. She didn't say a thing as he bought a drink and left. He walked by a few times, once when Poe Dameron was working with Rey and another with Amilyn Holdo herself there behind the counter. He didn't know why he kept walking by, knowing he was bound to get noticed by either a Niima or Skywalker.

Hux was being an asshole as per usual, but Finn was taking to Ben's direction about driving pretty quickly and that was distraction enough. Ben did end up at the grocery again on Thursday. It was getting dark. His family was having a barbecue and he'd dipped out. No one said anything; he did that sometimes. But he didn't usually then cross the line to the East side and head to the Niima corner store.

He paused at the closed door. It was just Rey in there, cleaning the glass on the fridges. Taking a deep breath, he let his feet take him inside. The bell above the door jingled. Rey didn't look away from her task. Ben stopped at the end of the aisle.

He stood there for an inordinately long amount of time before he coughed.

Rey scoffed in annoyance and dragged her eyes away from the glass to him. Those eyes—green or brown or some color in between, it was hard to tell in the dim store—widened but she didn't immediately start yelling at him, so maybe that was a plus.

"Hey," he said finally, as if he came in here often.

"What do you want?" She was cautiously defensive, but he couldn't blame her.

"I was gonna grab some dinner from Muerdo's on the corner," he said, shoving his hands into his pants pockets and rocking back on his heels. "Wanna get something?"

Rey narrowed her eyes at him, sizing him up. Maybe she thought this was some kind of trap. Ben had no fucking clue what he was doing here, but he couldn't ignore the pull that he felt to come here.

Finally, she shrugged a shoulder. "Fine." She shooed him outside, put away the cleaning supplies, locked the register drawer into the safe and then locked the door and the metal-bar secondary door over it. "If this is a trick…" She rounded on him and pointed a finger at his chest. She was wearing wedged heels so she wasn't as short as usual.

"It's not," Ben said, shrugging a little. "It's just food."

"Okay." She was still unconvinced, but they walked toward the end of the block where the famous burrito trailer sat in permanent residence. Neither of them said anything, the air thick with tension. Eventually though, once no cars roared up and nothing sinister happened, Rey relaxed a little beside him.

"You okay after that whole...Tusken Raiders thing?" he ventured to ask as Muerdo's came into view.

Rey shrugged a shoulder, hands swinging at her sides. Her hair was half-up, half-down, with flyaway wisps around her face. "Amilyn and Maz were freaked the fuck out. But I'm fine." She peered over him, as if she wanted to say more, but held her tongue.

"I didn't tell anyone," Ben said as they joined the short line in front of the red and green decaled trailer. He hadn't told anyone about the shooting or robbery, or about finding Rey there. He just came home with the parts and no one asked him anything about it. It was one of few secrets he'd kept from his parents.

"Why not?"

"Didn't want the drama. They saw it on the news but figured it happened after I left." They moved forward in line and he ordered the biggest burrito on the menu. He thought about paying for Rey's food too but didn't feel like ending the evening with a kick to the balls and her yelling at him for yet another reason so he just paid for his and stepped aside.

Rey acted like there were spies everywhere in the dispersing group of people who got food, stood around eating and then walking on to whatever else their evening contained. But she eventually got her order put in and handed over crumpled bills. With their food in hand, they stood off to one side, munching away and not saying much.

Halfway through her much smaller but no less stuffed taco, Rey tilted her head, eyes focused on something far in the distance. "Do _you_ know what happened?" she asked. "The fight that started it all, I mean."

"I've been told things," Ben said with a shrug. "Everyone says something different. My mom refuses to talk about it but my dad…" He paused and shook his head. "I don't know. Not really."

"Me neither," Rey said quietly, frowning into the dusky colors of the city entering night. "That's really stupid isn't it? That we're all fighting about something that none of us remember."

Ben "hmm"d in agreement and finished off his dinner, licking his lips and crumpling up the tinfoil to toss into the nearest bin. "You've been thinking about that too?"

"Yep. Kind of fucked me up."

He frowned a little. "What d'you mean?"

Rey scoffed and glanced up at him. "C'mon, I've been dragging your ass through the dirt since I could drive and I've hated you and your family for longer than I can remember. And now that I realized no one really has anything to be angry about and no one but _us_ cares about the stupid feud in the first place?" She paused and heaved a big sigh. "I kind of feel like I have no idea who I am without that. The certainty of...anger." She shook her head and tossed the rest of her meal. "That sounds so stupid."

"Doesn't sound that stupid to me," Ben said. And he wasn't _just_ saying that. It was kind of fucked up how one argument had bled through three generations. He now understood the desire his uncle Luke felt for leaving it all behind.

"I mean, look at me? I'm here having a conversation with _Ben Solo_ and I can't even think of a single insult. Something is obviously wrong with me." She stood in front of him, crossed her arms and frowned, annoyance written across her face.

"I'll admit it's weird to have you _not_ busting my balls," he said running a hand through his hair and then shrugging. "I guess you just gotta find something else to put your energy toward. Figure out who you are besides angry at every Skywalker."

She scuffed her heeled sandals against the sidewalk. "Easier said than done."

"Racing?" he offered.

"Well, obviously. Fifty-percent cars, fifty-percent angry. Me in a nutshell."

"So figure out what you like about cars so much."

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"You were always mean to me first. I'm actually not an asshole."

"That's something an asshole jerk would say." She narrowed her eyes at him, though he saw a speck of amusement in their depths. "Fine. I do love driving. Fixing cars, figuring out how to fix problems, how to improve them inside and out. And racing is…" She paused, tilting her head back, squinting at the stars.

Ben's eyes trailed down the length of her neck and he swallowed hard.

"Racing is like totally my thing. Behind the wheel, I'm just...it's just me and the car and the road. Everything else becomes non-existent. Anything that's bugging me goes away. It's like...nirvana or whatever."

"I know exactly what you mean."

"Do you?" More quizzical, cautious looks. "You're not just saying that to be nice?"

"I won't go out of my way to be _nice_ to you. You've been insulting me far too long." But he couldn't help the amused smile that made its way onto his face. She actually wasn't all that bad to be around, even though her mouth was open. At least she hadn't insulted him. Yet.

"Guess I deserve that." A ghost of a smile appeared on her own face, but it disappeared quickly. Without thinking, she'd started walking, back the way they came, and Ben followed. "I find it kind of hard to be around everyone. Except Paige. She's always been on the fence about the family feud and open about it. But I still feel like I can't talk to her about why. Otherwise it'll spiral out of control, Poe or Maz will find out and I'll be kicked out on the street for being a traitor."

"Traitor?" Ben's eyebrows rose. "Isn't that a little harsh?"

"Dunno. Would your family disown you if they knew we were talking?"

He pushed his hands into his front pockets and thought about it. "I'd hope not. But the anger and uh...hurt I guess, it runs deep."

Rey nodded. "I don't have anyone else, y'know. The Niima crew is my family. Amilyn took me in but I don't...belong to anyone. I'm just a random citizen, no family ties. At least not blood family. And I don't want my doubt to take me away from them." She glanced at him and blushed, her whole face going red and then she fisted her hands at her sides. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this. Why are you even still here?"

"We're having a conversation. Thought that was enough to stay and walk with you."

She wrestled with something; her dislike of him, her layered emotions regarding her standing with her family, the recent realization that the fight was insignificant, and how that changed her whole life. He had to admit, it was a lot to process. "You should go, before someone sees you," she said, stopping at a street corner a block away from the corner store. She didn't quite look him in the eye for a moment before she squared off her shoulders and made a decision to pull back her emotional vulnerability and put forth her brittle exterior. She met his eyes in the yellowing streetlamp overhead. "And if you say anything about any of this to anyone, I'll go to the West side and key your car."

"You wouldn't." Oh he had no doubt she would and the tiny flicker of fear was also a little thrilling.

"Keep your mouth shut, Ben Solo, and you'll never have to find out." With that, she turned and continued her walk back to the store, leaving him standing on the corner.

While he wasn't sure what he expected to get out of that whole exchange, he found himself amused about it all. Amused, a little sympathetic toward Rey as her life appeared to be spiralling out of control, and uh...perhaps mildly turned on.

Shaking his head to convince himself to leave and head back, he half jogged back to where he'd parked his Charger and drove back to the West side. He passed Finn in the corridor of the apartment complex.

"What's up," Finn said as way of greeting, jiggling his key in his own apartment door. It was two down from Ben's. "Where you been?"

"Cruising," Ben replied, which was pretty much true.

Finn didn't think anything of it, finally shouldering his door open. "Goodnight, man."

Ben gave him a nod and then fished out his own key. His place was small but crowded. He'd fit two small bookshelves on the wall next to the kitchen, had a small TV precariously sitting on top of one and a bed that took up most of the living space. But it was just him so it didn't really matter.

He got in the shower and thought about Rey in her halter and cutoffs in the light by the street and stayed a little longer in the shower before flopping down in bed and dozing before his phone beeped.

He groaned and fished around for it, squinting with one eye at the screen. It was from a local number but he didn't recognize it. It just said _Thanks_ and then an emoji of a car and a key popped up under it.

Ben laughed in spite of himself, wondering how the hell she'd gotten his number.

oOo

Rey woke up the next morning feeling strangely content and spent longer than usual curling up around her pillow and dozing. Moments from the previous night trickled back to her: the totally bizarre _dinner_ with Ben Solo, the embarrassing amount of things she told him, and her thought process when she got home.

She'd had to stay at the shop a bit longer after they'd parted, and then she drove home late. Everyone was already in their rooms. Rey didn't even try to tip-toe up the creaking stairs. She'd gone to her room, grabbed her PJs and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and shower. Once she was clean, she'd paused in front of Rose and Kaydel's door. It was totally possible that Kaydel knew someone who'd have Ben's number, but Rey didn't want to interrupt them.

Instead, she'd found that Poe had taken someone home—she unfortunately could hear quite a lot through the thin wall between their rooms—and Rey decided to snoop. She found the groupie's clutch purse and phone down in the kitchen. Rey managed to get into the phone contacts and found that the girl had Ben's number too.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Rey typed the number into her phone and raced upstairs. Also trying not to think too hard about it, she sent a simple _Thanks_ and then, a few seconds later, two emojis.

She didn't wait to see if he read it, turning off the sound and putting it face down on the nightstand. She snuggled into her bed and forced herself to sleep.

In the present, she checked her phone. Nothing. Trying not to feel too self-conscious about it, she headed downstairs and got breakfast started as the rest of Niima house started waking. Amilyn was already gone to open up the shop and Rey was thankful that today she was scheduled in the garage. She ate some toast and grabbed some protein bars before putting on her work jeans and t-shirt and heading out.

She opened up the garage and greeted Rose and Kaydel who were working with her today. Maz would probably pop in later to answer phones and deal with the customers trickling in.

"Why're you cheery this morning?" Rose asked, pulling on her blue oversuit.

Kaydel was already in hers, though she tied the top part around her waist. "Is that your 'I just got laid' face?" the blonde woman asked.

Rey snorted. "No. I appreciate your attention to detail though."

"But you did meet a guy didn't you? You keep almost grabbing your phone," Rose pointed out.

Rey was thankful she'd put Ben's contact in as **Matt** —it was the first name she thought of and less conspicuous than **Asshole**. "I'd tell you if it was important," Rey said, which was part truth, part lie. She didn't _know_ what was going on with her and Ben, where it would go, if anywhere, but she knew she wouldn't be able to tell anyone even if it did. And that sobered her a bit, especially since Rose valued honesty. Rey did too, but like she'd told Ben, she was worried about losing her family.

Rey was thankful to throw herself into her work, getting her hands dirty, her hair sweaty. She liked having a focus. Idle time was the worst thing you could give her. She liked to always be busy doing something, anything.

Ben replied in the late morning with a _Didn't tell a soul. X my heart._

Rey smirked and let him sit for a few hours before saying, _Paige would be extremely jealous if she knew I was talking to you._

 _You haven't told anyone?_ He sent almost immediately.

Rey left him waiting again. She replied at lunch: _It's our little secret._

"She's definitely texting a guy," Kaydel murmured loudly to Rose. The three of them were sitting in the crowded back office of the garage, eating sandwiches Paige brought them from the store.

Rey rolled her eyes. "For two lesbians you're very interested in whatever dick I'm talking to."

Rose chuckled. "You're unfortunately straight, Rey, and we've learned to accept this. And we're trying to be supportive."

"You're like those mother goose characters from that Disney movie. The one with the cats."

The next fifteen minutes were spent trying to remember the name of the movie—Rose eventually yelled out _ARISTOCATS!_ and the girls were lost in a wave of laughter—and then it was back to work. The day flew by and by the time five-thirty rolled around, Rey was satisfyingly tired and enjoyed a chill evening at home. Maz and Amilyn cooked a big dinner and the house was filled with the clammer of everyone talking over everyone.

Rey threw herself into the midst of it all, enjoying the slight chaos, especially once Poe and Paige arrived from their day at the grocery store. Rey didn't think about Ben Solo, or the crushing realization that she didn't really know who she was if she didn't hate the Skywalkers, and just focused on her family. Maybe some deep, subconscious part of her was trying to have as many good times with them as she could before something happened. Not that she wanted anything to happen to have them turn against her, but life kept offering her things that were bound to do just that.

More than a little tipsy, she made her way upstairs to her bedroom late that night. Maz and Amilyn had gone to bed already, but the rest of the house stayed up. Paige and Poe went at each other about the numerous girls Poe brought home and the lack thereof of Paige's love life. Throughout the night Kaydel and Rose were on each other's laps, clinking beer bottles together and sometimes forgetting the rest of them were there. Rey was quieter than usual, but no one seemed to notice.

She was just sober enough to remember to brush her teeth and pee before crawling into bed. She pulled her phone off the charger and squinted at the screen in the dark. There was nothing from Ben, which made her weirdly sad. With her already low inhibitions even lower thanks to the beer, she spent a good five minutes she spelled her text to him correctly.

_See you tomorrow?_

Realizing it was almost midnight, she quickly sent a second text even though she hated herself for double-sending.

_At the race. I have to win._

It didn't really make it _better_ but at least everything looked like it was spelled correctly.

Groaning, she pushed her phone under her pillow and curled into a ball, wanting very much to just sleep and wake up having not sent those. Ten minutes later, just as she was starting to fall asleep, her phone buzzed.

_Not racing tomorrow._

_Wahat?_

_Waiting for parts._

_That's stupid. You should've awited for next week._ There was a two weekend break in races after tomorrow. Every two months they took a break and that's when racers did most of their upkeep work.

 _I'll still be at the race_.

She smiled a little and then frowned at herself. She wasn't supposed to be _happy_ about seeing Ben Solo. She was supposed to loathe him and fill with anger every time she saw him. With a groan, she flipped over and buried her head in her pillow before peeking around the edge to see if there were any three-dotted bubbles on her screen. Nope. Ben Solo didn't double text apparently.

 _okay_ , she settled on so she didn't say anything else stupid. And then she promptly fell asleep still clutching her phone.

The next day she woke up with a mild hangover and a bad case of cringey embarrassment from last night's tweets. Mostly the typos, which he hadn't pointed out, thank god. It probably hadn't been smart for all of them to get wasted last night, as all of them winced at loud noises. Rey went to the shop for half the day, anticipation for that night's race. After lunch, she went to the grocery, which was blessedly cool, even though it was supposed to get warmer throughout the night.

By the time she pulled her Nissan into line under the streetlights, her insides were wriggling with anticipation. She had even worn heels, which were the worst to race in but she wanted to be tall tonight. It made her ass look nice in her denim skirt anyway. Her hair was all big and wavy and she was wearing her favorite neon loops in her ears.

The first ten races were the lower level cars and racers, which left the Niimas milling about, chatting up fellow racers, being swarmed with groupies and everything else that came from racing nights. The Skywalkers were much farther away from the starting line than usual and Rey found herself searching for Ben without thinking and then stopping herself.

"Ugh," Kaydel said as the rev of a classic V8 cut through the music. Rey twisted around, seeing one of the Skywalkers cars—behind the wheel was Phasma, who mostly started the races but rarely raced. At least that Rey had paid attention. Her car was a Super Bee, red with black stripes and that silly little bee decal on the back. The other Skywalkers had walked up toward the starting line. Rey was sandwiched between Amilyn and Kaydel and cheered on the other racer, a little black Honda.

"Half of me wants the Super Bee to win," Amilyn mentioned as both cars revved their engines at the start line. "There's not enough female drivers."

Rey chuckled. "Your house has six women living in it."

"And how many other female drivers are there besides you four?"

Rey had to admit that there were definitely more male drivers. It was probably a four-to-one ratio. But all of the ladies were so good she hardly noticed. Her ears popped with the mufflers as the cars took off. She knew within seconds that the Super Bee would win, and was right, but she and the other Niima drivers had to drag Phasma anyway.

As Phasma drove back around, Rey spotted Ben among with a few other Skywalkers. Her stomach flipped—what was she, in high school?—when he met her eyes across the street. He didn't exactly smile at her, but there was a little less sinister behind his eyes.

Rose appeared at Rey's side, sliding her arm around Rey's hips. "What's he even doing here?" she asked, glaring at Ben. "He doesn't even have his car."

Rey almost responded with the truth, but stopped herself, sliding into her old self and sneering a little. "No clue. He can't race with air. I'm just sad I can't drag his ass through the dirt tonight."

Rose squeezed her hip. "Paige is racing next. Let's go wish her luck."

The rest of the night was filled with roaring cars and crowds. Rey raced a handful of times and won them all, but none gave her the kind of thrill that beating Ben Solo did. She did beat another Skywalker though, the newest and weakest driver Finn, and everyone on the Niima side was happy about that.

The night dragged on and people started leaving. Others stuck around to race for personal bets and Amilyn and Maz went over to collect the pot for the Niimas. Paige was leaning over into her Jetta's engine and Rose and Kaydel were flirting with the groupies. Poe had already left with two girls in his Mazda. With few eyes on her, Rey slipped away and across the road, heading south toward the Skywalker cars. They stood out amid the newer racers with boatlike frames, hard angles and the fact that they were all much higher off the ground.

She didn't really know what her intentions were, but when she didn't see Ben anywhere, she turned back around as if this had always been her plan and went back to her car. Amilyn met her back at the Nissan and Rey took her cut for the night, shoving it into her bomber jacket before getting behind the wheel.

Not feeling like going straight home, she drove aimlessly down the one way streets of downtown. There weren't many places open this late at night, but a couple restaurants were. She drove by one hole in the wall and thought she saw Ben inside but drove onward. However the thought wouldn't go away so she drove back around and Ben was indeed sitting inside eating a pile of pancakes at nearly one in the morning.

Unable to help herself, she parked around the side of the building and walked toward the diner. No one else was inside and there wasn't anyone else on the streets so she didn't have to worry. She was a little too hyped up on nerves and determination to be worried about it. The door thankfully didn't have a bell, but Ben looked up when she stepped inside anyway. He made no attempt to hide his eyes raking over her and the nerves sort of settled back and let her confidence come out and play.

"Hey," she said, the same way he'd said _hey_ so casually when he first came into the Niima grocery store.

He echoed her greeting and took a drink from the plastic water glass. (Rey wondered for a moment what sort of person drank water with pancakes but then realized that wasn't really important.) She stayed on her feet and didn't bother sitting down.

"You really should have waited to work on your car," she said as he stood and fished around for some cash to lay down on the table. "It would have been fun to beat you before the break."

Straightening up, he was pretty close to her now and her heels definitely leveled the playing field. "Guess you'll just have to wait," he said with the teeniest of smirks.

"I'm not so good with waiting," Rey said, her heartbeat leaping to her throat.

Before she jumped his bones under the horrific fluorescents of the restaurant, she took his hand, barely holding on and walked outside. The lot to the side was barely lit and once away from the bright lights, she twisted around. Definitely reading her mind, he took her face in his hands and kissed her, meeting her halfway. It was sloppy and messy and definitely a first kiss but she didn't really care right then and there.

Backing up until her back hit the side of her car, she clutched at his sides, pulling him close until his body was pressed fully against hers. The kissing got better quickly, deeper and harder, tongues sliding across lips and tongue until she couldn't breath and could only think about the heat flushing her body and his hands in her hair and his dick getting hard against her hip.

Finally breaking for panting breaths, Ben held handsfull of hair in his hands and looked into her eyes in the dim light. "I should not race more often," he chuckled.

Rey let out a deep breath through her nose and moved her hands up to fist his t-shirt over his chest. "We're so fucked," she said softly. "If our families find out…"

Ben growled, low and frustrated deep in his throat. "Fuck the feud."

"After I told you all that stuff," she blushed and was thankful for the darkness, "I feel like you're the only person I can be honest with right now. So this can't just be a one time thing."

"Okay," Ben agreed. He kissed her again, gently this time and she snaked her arms around his neck. She arched her back just a little and his hands dropped from her face; his hands were big and circled around her hips, squeezing and sending jolts through her. She made a tiny mewling noise and he pulled back from her lips. "I have one condition."

"What is it?"

"I don't ever step foot inside your car."

Rey frowned and then scoffed, gently shoving him away. He laughed, though she knew his request was serious. "Way to ruin a mood, Solo."

He ran a hand through his hair and sidled back to her, pressing her against her car with his hips. "Believe me, my backseat is much more comfortable." He kissed the side of her mouth and tried distracting her with kisses up her jaw toward her ear.

With all her willpower, Rey put her hands on his chest and pushed him gently back. "We'll see about that," she said, trying desperately to keep her cool. "You better get your car fixed fast." She scooted away from him while half of her was yelling at her to stay and the other half was cheering her on for having some semblance of self control.

"Oh, I see how it is," Ben said, as she unlocked her car door and popped it open.

She twisted around, leaning on the top of the car door. "Just a little incentive to getting your car fixed." She smirked at him and slid into her car before she folded. With the door closed between them, it was a lot easier to leave.

"Really? You're just gonna leave me here hard without a ride?" Ben called as she backed up toward the street.

"Yep," she said, flashing him a grin before she shot down the street, leaving him in the dark parking lot alone.

oOo

Ben fixed his car within two days. Meeting anywhere with Rey meant late nights in the quietest parts of town, or heading to Chandrila for a day because no one there gave two shits about the Skywalker-Niima fight.

The back of his Charger was far roomier than hers, even Rey admitted that, and they made it work on numerous occasions. His mouth on her tits and nipples as she rode on his dick and rubbed her clit until she came, uttering moans of approval and ecstacy. He'd tell her she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen every time she came and she'd melt like butter at his words.

They snuck off to Chandrila for the first time under the guise of getting parts and went to a club. She'd worn a skin tight dress and ground up on him in the middle of the dancefloor til he was hard as a rock and took her to the bathroom. He ate her out in the last stall, Rey gripping the top of the door, trying to smother her moans. She did a good job of it until he fucked her, her legs around his waist, ramming her back against the wall. She'd gotten bruises from that but never complained, begging him to keep going.

She gave him handjobs in parking lots and blow jobs that made him wild, her tongue a master at teasing it out. She'd whisper about how much she wanted him, lips brushing against the shell of his ear, usually in places that weren't appropriate for sex, leaving him no choice but to swallow down his arousal or find a place they could fuck without getting arrested. It was harder than expected to do when they had fleeting moments together.

There was softer stuff too. Long kisses that didn't leas to sex. Holding hands and eating ice cream walking down the street. Eating shitty food at places that didn't care about the family feuding. Ben kissing up and down her neck until she laughed too hard and pushed him away. It was all just _good._

They did have civil arguments and not-so-civil arguments about cars which was bound to happen. Rey insisted NOS was legitimate while Ben said it did nothing but serve as a crutch to bad drivers and didn't showcase a good driver over excess customizations. And while Ben doted on his car, Rey was extremely vocal about how bland the design and paintjob was, which just about shot him through the heart and very nearly ended badly until Ben realized it was just a fucking car and kissed Rey against the side of it until she couldn't catch her breath.

They kept up appearances at races every weekend. And they both tried to best the other, finding it a major turn on to hold a won race over the other. They would recount beating each other in races while fucking which was so way more of a kink than either of them realized until they started doing it.

Months slipped by and it was definitely not a one-time thing. Ben found himself smiling randomly while working and having to avoid questions at family dinners. He would make up for his absences by saying he was meeting with a girl, which wasn't a lie, he just never told anyone who he was meeting.

He couldn't bring Rey back to his place; everyone but his parents and Chewie lived in the same complex as he did. He couldn't risk her being seen by Finn or Phasma or least of all, Hux. It was a secret, intense thing and he didn't want it to end. Maybe it would have been nice to be able to tell someone, or to be able to pop into Rey's work without the chance of being seen by a Skywalker or Niima. But the feud was still there between both parties and that didn't seem to be going anywhere.

It was inching toward half a year of this sneaking around; Rey's eyes had been getting harder to read—equally lighter and brighter and also a little worried or tired or something—and Ben was working through what to do about it. Just yesterday they'd flirted like mad at Macy's but there was a bit of distance between them that he wasn't sure was the perfume counter or something else.

He was thinking through it as he drove from his apartment to his parents' house Monday night after work. There was a weekly family dinner at the small house behind the shop and Ben went into this one thinking it was gonna be just like any other.

What he wasn't expecting was to find everyone standing around the living room, serious looks on their faces. His parents were there, Chewie too, with Phasma and Finn to the side and Hux standing in the middle with a smug look on his face.

"The prodigal son arrives," the ginger said and Ben had the strongest urge to punch him in the face.

Han had his hands on his hips. "Something you want to tell us, son?" he asked Ben.

Ben blinked, unsure what this was all about. "You look great for your age," he offered.

"I saw you," Hux said. "At Macy's yesterday. With that Niima chick."

Any comfort and ease was gone from Ben's body and mind. He stood up to his full height. "So you're tattling to my parents? How childish." He didn't deny it though. He probably should have, to protect Rey, but if Hux had seen them, it was evidence enough.

"Just tell us the truth, Ben," Leia said, her voice soft and even. She looked a little sad, though for what reason exactly, he couldn't place.

He thought about it, pushing down his anger at Hux for being a fucking dick, and wondering if this was the universe's way of finally breaking down. This could mean nothing good for him and Rey and Ben found himself not wanting to let it slip away. But lying wouldn't do anything. "Okay, I'll admit, I've been...seeing Rey from the Niima crew." When he said it, the words sounded insignificant.

But they weren't insignificant; not under this roof. Finn, Hux and Phasma instantly got up in arms about it. Han tried yelling over them. Chewie said nothing, leaning back against the doorframe between the living room and kitchen. Ben kept his eyes on his mom, who suddenly looked very small and old.

"Ben, Ben," Han said, finally getting hold of the conversation. He stepped forward and stood before Ben. "Why?"

"Why not?" Ben shot back.

Han was at a loss for words. Finn stepped in and said, "Because of the y'know, feud, man."

"Yeah, sure the feud. Which started over...what exactly?" He paused, waiting for a response. Han glanced at Chewie.

Leia stepped forward. "It shouldn't matter," she said. "It's there for a reason. Ben Kenobi ruined your grandfather's life."

"Is that why I'm named after him?" The words came out harsher than intended and his expression softened. He didn't want to fight with his mother.

Leia kept her composure. "You know that's not true." Ben had been named just months before the fight and since his name was legitimately _Ben_ and not Benjamin, there was really no other nickname he could have gone by. "But why...why a Niima girl? You could have any girl who goes to those races."

"And I don't want any other girl," he said, which sounded whiny and pathetic, but it was the truth.

"Doesn't she hate you?" Finn asked.

"Not anymore," Ben said. "I've lived my whole damn life with this stupid feud. I don't mean to belittle whatever the fuck happened between Kenobi and Anakin, but it's been thirty years. You can't tell me that the people working at Niima now, who never even knew Kenobi, are worth your hatred." He'd be lying if he said Rey's words about this whole stupid schism weren't inspiring his speech. "Just like us. Finn's been here like what, seven years? Do you even know why we hate the Niimas?"

Finn shrugged, grumbling under his breath.

"It doesn't matter what pretty words you say," Phasma said, "you still broke the number one rule. No association with the Niimas. I mean, you went above and beyond it, Ben."

Ben sighed and turned to his mother. "You can't tell me you don't miss Amilyn," he said, hitting low. Long ago, when he was eleven or twelve, he'd stumbled on his mom drinking whiskey with dewy eyes, going through a box of photos. Most of them were of the family with Anakin. Some had Ben Kenobi in them. And the one he found Leia crying over was Amilyn Holdo and herself, tweens themselves, smiling, arms slung around each other.

"Don't do that, Ben," Leia said, her voice wobbly. "You don't know what you're asking those of us who remember."

"I don't know how who I'm dating has anything to do with what happened three decades ago."

Han shook his head and clapped his hand on Ben's shoulder. "I know you don't get it son, but the truth's out now. I have to call the Niimas and tell them."

"Dad," Ben said, ready to beg, even in front of the rest of the current Skywalkers. He was thinking about Rey, how scared she was to lose her family for being with him. He'd never forgive himself if that's what ended up happening.

Han walked through the living room toward the kitchen, where they still had a landline. Ben found himself confronted with a wall of people who were his family, and finding no compassion or understanding there. Except maybe in Chewie, though his eyes were small and dark and it was hard to tell. But even so, the tall man didn't say a thing as Han started talking into the phone, his volume rising.

oOo

Rey's dream was all about Ben. Not a sex dream though, which was surprising; they were just walking down around the beach far from here. Ben was in all black like always, because Rey couldn't imagine him in anything else except naked, but she was wearing a thin strapped bikini and sandals and a little sarong around her waist that was mostly sheer. They were holding hands and doing nothing really spectacular other than being... _together_. In public.

As much as Rey enjoyed sleeping with Ben, she couldn't deny the floods of butterflies that cascaded around her stomach when they held hands or were just casually talking over a dinner at hole-in-the-wall place and she caught his eyes in her gaze. She got a thrill out of going to Chandrila and being able to do actual couple things that didn't involve the backseat of Ben's Charger—though she quickly became very fond of the car despite her reservations.

She kept denying to herself that she was in deep, always using the excuse of it being secret and _not real_ to protect herself.

But this morning she was feeling warm and peaceful as she slept until someone rushed into her bedroom and grabbed her shoulder, jerking her awake. Paige's concerned face hovered over her.

At first, Rey's mind thought that something happened to Maz. She _was_ old; like eighty? Ninety? "What is it?" she croaked out.

"They found out," Paige said simply.

It took a moment or two for Rey to register the words, connect the dots between Paige's expression, who "they" were, and then it hit her.

"Fuck," she muttered, throwing off her covers. She didn't even pause to think about how she hadn't told a soul about her and Ben, including Paige, and yet the other mechanic didn't seem to be the least bit surprised, nor upset about it.

"Someone called, I think it was Han Solo, and Maz answered and they were screaming over the phone for twenty minutes," Paige whispered, following Rey into the hall.

In just her cotton shorts and tanktop, hair a mess, Rey walked down the stairs, a feeling of cold dread settling around her. The familiar stairs creaked underfoot and Paige skirted around Rey into the living room where everyone else was gathered. Most were still in PJs. She was scared for a moment at the thought of losing her family.

"What's all this?" she asked, playing dumb.

Poe was the first to speak: "Are you fucking Ben Solo?"

Rey flinched at the words, at his tone, how bitter and offended it sounded. She found herself frozen.

Amilya stepped forward, clicking her tongue. "Poe," she chastised. The older woman turned to Rey then, her expression kinder than Rey thought she deserved. "We got a call this morning."

"You're damned right we did," Maz said, anger wobbling on every word. Her hair was out free, wispy and white like spun sugar. "What on this God's green earth were you thinking?"

Rey crossed her arms, wanting very much to disappear or to lash out. She hated the looks on their faces and decided to be strong. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "I was thinking, 'Y'know, Ben Solo looks like a good ride', and I was right," she said with punch.

Kaydel and Rose, both perched on the arm of one of the sofas, glanced at each other. Poe made a face and Maz threw her hands up in the air. Rey could see Paige in her peripheral vision, hanging back.

"I've realized something recently," Rey said, swallowing hard. "Who here even remembers the fight that broke up Kenobi and Skywalker?"

Maz and Amilyn stilled. No one else was old enough to remember it but the two matriarchs of the crew.

"And do you even remember what it was about? Specifically, I mean," Rey continued, getting into a groove. She felt emotions welling up like a bucket filling and she wasn't sure what would happen once they spilled over.

Amilyn shook her head a little, but Maz kept her hard, watery gaze on Rey.

"Does it even matter anymore?"

"Of course it does!" Kaydel exclaimed.

"You of all people," Rose said, shaking her head. "You've hated the Skywalkers for your entire life."

"Exactly! I've hated people with absolute clarity for my entire goddamn life. People I've never met before, people I've done nothing but insult and degrade with whatever bullshit I could think of. I wasn't acting on my own feelings and experiences, I was just feeling off of your hate." She looked pointedly at Maz and glanced at Amilyn.

The bucket was getting full and she needed to talk fast. "I'm sorry that Ben Kenobi or Anakin Skywalker did something so horrible that it split them up. I'm sorry that Obi died soon after," she was speaking to Maz now, who was as close to a mother as Ben Kenobi ever had even if not by blood. "But that happened in your lifetime, and I want something different in mine. I'm sorry that you're so angry all the time and I don't know if any of you have ever been truly happy with yourselves and how our lives have panned out. I love all of you, but not at the...not at the expense of my happiness. Okay?"

"How long?" Poe asked, his voice dark and deadly. She could feel the disgust and broken trust coming off of him in waves and it hurt more than she'd expected.

"Five...six months." Her face was growing heated and she felt the stinging heat behind her eyes that came with tears. "And _none_ of you can say _anything_ , because none of you noticed that I was happy! Or bothered to ask _why_ I was so fucking happy." A couple tears slipped down and she rubbed them away angrily. "This whole thing. This stupid schism, this stupid family feud, and your own stupid, hateful feelings are all absolute _bullshit_."

With that, before she started sobbing in front of them and ruining her impassioned speech, Rey raced upstairs to her room, crawling out onto the roof and sitting there. She wished she had a joint or a beer or literally anything to keep her occupied. But she had nothing. She hugged her legs to her chest and closed her eyes as the sun bathed her in warm and light.

A few minutes later, the window creaked behind her and Rose came crawling out, robe tied around her middle. They sat in silence for a while.

"So, Ben Solo," Rose said finally.

"Yes. One of my more stupid ideas," Rey said, wiping her cheeks with the palms of her hands.

"It sounds like...I mean...look at you. You're a mess. You really must like him." Rey could tell that it was taking a lot for Rose to say anything positive about this whole thing.

"I do," Rey said, admitting it to herself as much as to Rose. "Which, again, is stupid of me."

Rose sighed and scooted close, putting her arm around Rey's shoulders. "I wish you'd told me."

"I couldn't. I didn't tell anyone. Besides, if I told you, you'd accidentally tell Kaydel about it during your pillowtalk and then this would have happened like months ago."

"Sad, but true." Rose squeezed her shoulders. "I'm...sorry. This is such a shitty situation."

"It shouldn't be. I'm just dating someone. Why am I being punished for it?"

Rose sighed. "The punishment hasn't even started. Maz is gonna want to yell at you for a good half hour. And then there's the meeting."

"Meeting?"

"Yeah. Us and the Skywalkers. Meeting face to face, to figure out what's gonna happen."

Rey groaned and held her head in her hands. This was all wrong. She could already picture what would happen. Public ridicule, and it would be used for even more fuel to keep the feud going. Which was fucking _ridiculous_. All she'd done is decide to date someone. Normal people didn't have these problems.

"This is so fucking stupid," she muttered.

Rose dropped her arm from around Rey and folded her hands together, obviously anxious to ask something. "I just...I don't understand how you of all people would...I mean you hate the Skywalkers more than any of us, except maybe Poe."

Rey sighed. "I don't know...no, I know what happened. I almost could have died at the hands of the Tusken Raiders in Chandrila, remember that?"

Rose nodded, though her confused face told Rey that she didn't know where this was leading.

"Ben Solo showed up and saved me. I mean, not me specifically, but he definitely saved my ass. And no one cared that a Niima and a Skywalker were in the same place. Our stupid family feud is so small that no one else fucking cares. So why should I?"

"And you suddenly turned tail and decided to shack up with him?"

"No! It just...we met a few times and talked and realized we had more in common than I thought. And he's...a good guy. I decided to stop holding onto a grudge that wasn't even mine."

Rose let out a big sigh that puffed out her bangs from her forehead. "Damn. If Rey, the most anti-Skywalker of us all can have a change of heart…"

Shouting from inside reached them through the window, interrupting the conversation. Rose gave Rey's shoulder a squeeze then crawled back through the window. She shut the bedroom door behind her, leaving Rey alone in her space.

Rey sat on the roof for a little while longer before it hit her like a ton of bricks that she hadn't even thought to talk to Ben yet. She scrambled inside and found her phone on the floor, screen down. It was filled with multiple texts from Ben from last night and this morning, under the **Matt** contact.

 _Rey…  
_ _Hux saw me visit you yesterday. We're fucked._  
 _Rey  
_ _I'm sorry_

She clicked on his messages in her phone and typed _What the fuck._

She watched as instantly the typing bubbles appeared. _I'm sorry Rey._ Then, a few seconds later, _Visit me in prison after I kill Hux?_

She smiled despite the situation. _Don't kill him. I don't like waiting, remember?_ She ran her thumb over the side of the screen affectionately and then jumped when the screen changed to a phone call from Ben. They never did phone calls, it was too risky.

Guess that didn't matter now. She picked up. "Ben."

"Rey. Shit, I'm so fucking sorry," he said, his voice different over the phone than in person. But it still comforted her to hear it.

"It's not your fault. It...it would have happened eventually." Tucking an arm around her middle, she sat on the edge of her bed, digging her toes into the fluffy shag carpet on the floor. "Did you get a family confrontation too?"

"Yeah. Last night. Hux saw us at Macy's."

Rey wrinkled her nose. "What was he doing at Macy's?"

Ben laughed a little and it made her heart soar a little. "Are you okay?" he asked finally.

She didn't answer right away, her palms getting sweaty. "I guess. Are you?"

"I didn't want it to happen like this."

"What did you expect, everyone to suddenly put down their lifelong grudge and become one big happy family?" She couldn't help the bitterness seeping into her voice.

"No, we don't live in a fairytale. I just...I wanted to have control over it. I know...look, Rey, I know that you've been feeling...under-appreciated or something lately—"

She didn't protest.

"And I know that had to do with keeping this whole thing a secret."

"I knew what I was getting into," she said begrudgingly. "I'm _this close_ to being kicked out, I know it." She leaned forward, her stomach hurting from all the stress.

"Since everyone knows, I can come get you."

She smiled a little at the thought of seeing him. She didn't blame him for what happened; she found herself wanting to be with him, even with all of this chaos. "And do what?"

"I have my own place," he said, obviously thinking on his feet. "Hell, we can go to Chandrila."

"Running from our problems won't solve anything."

"After the face-to-face. No matter what they say, we could just...move to Chandrila."

Rey laughed at the expected offer. "Wait, you're being serious."

"Yeah."

"But…"

"If it means we stay together and get away from all this toxic family bullshit, we move to Chandrila until they come to their senses. We have connections there already. Just us and our cars."

"I love you," she blurted out. And then froze. Because she hadn't meant to say it, and definitely not over the phone. But she was feeling like this was a once in a lifetime moment. Someone putting aside _their_ life for her, rather than forcing her into their mold. "Shit, I'm...I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that."

"Really?" Ben said, tone disappointed.

She thought about it. "No, no I mean it, I just wanted to say it in person."

"I love you, too, Rey," he said in response, his words warm and pleasurable even through the electronic receiver. "And we can still say it in person."

If Rey could see through the phone she would have seen Ben in his tiny apartment, a goofy, crooked teeth smile on his face. She swallowed, her belly warm from his words. The moment was broken by the sounds of yelling from downstairs. She glanced at the closed door, wondering when it would fly open. "I...I have to go. My family is about to explode. But I'll see you soon. At the stupid meet thing. Okay?"

"Okay."

With hands shaking from pleasant emotions, Rey got herself dressed, pulling on the first things she found: wide-legged mom jeans and a green shirt with quarter-sleeves and a few buttons opened. She pulled her hair back in a bun and put on her best face to head downstairs.

oOo

It didn't matter how many times Rey had told Maz and Amilyn that she cared about Ben—she didn't use the word _love_ because that was reserved for Ben's ears only—they still couldn't wrap their heads around her disobedience. Both Rose and Paige stood up for her. Poe wouldn't even look at her. Kaydel was just sort of hovering, making everyone tea and coffee even if they didn't ask for it.

The meeting was as early as they could gather themselves up. Maz and Rey went with Amilyn in her purple Nissan Fairlady, Rey shoved into the back like a child. Poe and Paige each rode in their respective vehicles and Rose and Kaydel shared Rose's red Mazda. They rolled toward the edge of town, where there was an abandoned K-Mart that hadn't yet been repurposed.

Rey felt a twinge of _something_ —guilt, unease, embarrassment, irony—since she and Ben had often taken his car here since the parking lot lights didn't work and they could fuck in his car without anyone seeing. The place looked completely different under the morning sun. The Skywalkers were there already when the Niimas pulled up.

Like two gangs meeting to discuss a dispute, the Skywalkers were all standing outside their cars. Ben looked haggard and had stubble on his face, hair sticking up every which way. Rey resisted the urge to run to him when Amilyn pulled back the front seat to let her out. They were parked close enough to each other to not have to yell to speak.

Han Solo and Leia Organa-Solo stood a bit away from the rest. Amilyn and Maz took a few steps forward too. Rey hovered behind, kept in line by Poe's deathly glare.

"Hello Leia," Amilyn said, breaking the silence.

"Amilyn," Leia said, her composure in every part of her except her eyes. They looked torn and sad, like she'd missed something big in her life.

"Maz," Han said, inclining his head.

The older woman said nothing, crossing her boney arms instead.

Rey held her breath, trying to have a silent conversation with Ben but failing.

"It's been a long time," Amilyn said.

"You two knew each other?" Rey asked, not able to keep quiet.

"We were best friends growing up. I even remember when you were born, Ben," she nodded across the six foot expanse between the groups.

Ben's face twitched into a small smile. "Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" He also couldn't stay quiet. Rey felt a little smug about that since he wasn't super talkative in general. She must have been rubbing off on him. "No? The reason we're all here—"

"Because you can't keep your dick in your pants," Phasma said, arms sassily crossed.

Ben glared at her. "The reason is because of Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. So does anyone want to tell us why the fuck we're all fighting in the first place?"

It was quiet. Rey expected a tumbleweed to roll by.

Chewie, the biggest, tallest and hairiest of them all, opened his mouth. "The way I remember it, Anakin and Ben opened two shops together so they could get to people all around the city. They'd work interchangeably between the two shops and hell, we were _all_ a family back then."

"Times change," Maz said, though her voice had lost some of its vinegar.

"I was friends with Ben and Anakin. I remember. So do you."

The older woman refused to say anything else.

"A lot of things happened," Leia said, speaking up. "It doesn't change what happened."

"Why won't anyone just say what happened?" Ben shouted out, exasperated.

Just then, the roar of an engine filled the air. An old car, older than all the rest, pulled up. Out from behind the wheel came Luke Skywalker. He was dressed in slacks and a sweater vest even though it was already seventy degrees out. He shut the car door quietly and walked forward. No one said anything as he stood there, surveying both sides of the line.

"Sorry I'm late," he said finally. "Some of us have jobs that can't just be put aside for a secret rendezvous in an old parking lot."

"Luke, what are you doing here?" Leia asked, stepping away from the group and toward her twin.

"I called him," Han said. "He's part of the family. He gets a say in this."

"Ah yes," Luke clapped his hands together. " _This_ being my nephew found himself a girlfriend. I don't see what the big deal is."

Finn pointed toward Rey. "She's over there."

"Over this imaginary line?" Luke peered at the ground. The lines for the spots had long since faded away so there really weren't any lines on the ground.

"Luke, don't," Leia warned. "You remember just as well as I what happened after Mom died."

Luke nodded. "I remember. Dad went in a bad way. Pushed away his family, got in a petty argument with his best friend, Ben Kenobi, and the rest is history as they say."

"It wasn't petty," Leia insisted.

"Leia, we weren't even there! None of us were. All of us heard whatever version Anakin or Kenobi wanted us to hear. The friendship was broken, the business was broken, the family fell apart. For no discernable reason." Luke ran a hand over his face. "This is why I got out when I did. This whole thing...this feud, it's nothing good. You can't create a wholesome life when you're full of hatred."

Rey and Ben both were starting to think that Luke was definitely their savior.

"That's what I've been saying," Rey spoke up.

Luke pointed a finger at her. "See? The kids know what's up."

Hux, having been quiet this whole time, stepped forward. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. We're really all just gonna stand here and buy this?"

"Buy what? I'm an unbiased party. Who the fuck are you?"

Ben choked down a laugh as Hux turned as red as his hair. "I think he's fired," Han muttered loud enough for Ben to hear.

"I don't give two shits about this family feud and neither should you. Call it whatever you want, but if two kids want to get together, let 'em. Why does it matter so much to any of you?" Luke finished, taking his time looking through the two groups.

Amilyn spoke up first. "I agree. I've never been entirely on board with this, but I was just doing what Obi and Maz said. We can reconcile, can't we? We used to all be on the same side."

"It was a lot easier than all this grudge business," Chewied agreed as well.

Rey couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. She had expected everything to be bad _forever_ but there were people on her and Ben's side. At least a little bit.

However, it wasn't everyone. The talks dragged out, arguments sprouting for the next thirty minutes about the whys and why nots. The whole time, Rey made eyes at Ben, trying to get them to sneak away, but it wasn't really possible.

Eventually, Rey pulled out her phone and shot a text over to him, thinking that perhaps the tentative balance in the group may combust if she and Ben interacted. Which was still the stupidest thing to her.

 _Can't believe our knight in shining armor was your uncle in a sweater vest_.

oOo

Ben was just about ready to yell out that he and Rey were leaving when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and quickly read the message. He smirked a little and glanced over at Rey, who looked as emotionally drained as he felt.

Slipping through the crowd, he interrupted his mom and uncle, who were talking in hushed tones.

"Ah, Ben," Luke said, giving Ben a one-armed hug. "Holding up?"

"Sure," Ben frowned. "So what's gonna happen? Do we vote or what?"

He wasn't being serious, but his mom seemed to think so. She wiped below her eyes and turned toward the group where spats were happening like it was a middle school cheerleading camp. Ben whistled loud and sharp and everyone stopped and turned.

Leia stepped forward. "We've all heard and said a lot today. There's a lot to think about."

"Yeah, but what about them?" Poe asked, his voice still dripping in dislike. Ben wanted to deck him almost as much as Hux, who had gone to sulk in his car.

Amilyn hesitated, as did Leia when presented with the fact that their children were dating.

"You know what," Ben said, stepping forward. "I'll answer for you. Rey and I are adults and we can do whatever the hell we want."

Rey pushed through the Niima crew and joined him, sliding her fingers through his as a show of ownership and to just really rub it in to everyone that this was really happening. No one really said anything, so Ben tugged Rey toward his car. She went willingly, glancing over her shoulder to give Rose and Paige and Amilyn a quick look that she hoped would convey the fact that she thanked them for siding with her, but this was still her life.

She slid into Ben's Charger and they pulled away from the mess that was an old family feud. As they got farther away, the more and more relief flooded both of them. Once they'd gotten to the road and the parking lot was no longer visible, Rey started to laugh. It was quiet but catching and Ben joined her.

They drove for a few more minutes before he pulled over, letting the engine idle. He twisted in the seat to face her, her face flush from laughter.

"What even was that?" she nearly gasped out.

"Honestly...they have so much shit to figure out," Ben said, reaching toward her, tucking loose hairs behind her ears. "God I love you."

It was so different to say the words looking at her, all bright eyes and dimple carved into her cheek, freckles across her face rather than over the phone. Rey stilled momentarily before leaning over, digging her hands into his hair and kissing him long and slow.

"I love you. I don't think I've ever said that to a guy," she confessed, hands resting against his neck.

"Glad to be lucky number one," he said, rubbing his thumbs over her arms. "So, back to my place?"

"Actually?"

"Hell yeah."

She grinned and nodded, settling back into the seat. She didn't know what to expect, but his place was cluttered but not messy, which was all she could ask for from a bachelor pad. She said as much.

"Thanks, I think," he'd said, gathering her up in his arms, holding her against his chest. "I'm exhausted."

"I slept really good, blissfully unaware of the shitshow I was about to wake up to," Rey said into his chest, her arms wrapped around him. "I'll lay down with you though, if you want."

It wasn't a bad prospect. They'd never actually been together in the same room as a bed before. Ben pulled off his boots and Rey toed off her sneakers. He pulled off his shirt and jeans, leaving himself just in underwear and she pulled off her jeans but kept her shirt on. They crawled into bed and settled together pretty easily.

"Do you think they're gonna come knocking down your door?" Rey asked, snuggled against his side, an arm laying across his chest.

"Nah. They're probably all having existential crises right now." He absently stroked his hand through her hair, pulling it out of the tie.

She chuckled and they stayed that way, peaceful and quiet for a little while before Rey spoke again. Ben was so relaxed he was almost asleep. "Were you serious? About Chandrila?"

"Yes."

"Even though Amilyn isn't kicking me out, I think...I think I want to be away for a while. Try to figure out who I am without my family."

Knowing how much family meant to her, Ben tightened his arm around her and squeezed. "We wouldn't be far. And phones exist."

"I know." She traced invisible shapes across his chest with her fingertips. "Let's go for it." She propped herself up and looked down at him. "What do you say?"

"I say yes," he said, bringing his hand up to cup one side of her face. "And that you're my ride or die, babe."

Rey's stomach flipped at the old school racing community declaration, almost more so than when he said _I love you_. But she didn't have time to ponder it because he was kissing her and that was distraction enough.

Because even though he was tired, they _were_ in a bed and, with the freedom they now had to be together, they found that they didn't want to waste a single moment.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know modern cars very well, so I literally just copied car types from the F&F movies and changed the colors. I did, however, personally pick all of the American muscle cars. I'll leave a list here in case y'all want to google 'em because I put a lot of thought into it lol
> 
>  **Niima Crew** :  
> Rey (1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33; white with orange and grey)  
> Rose Tico (1993 Mazda RX-7; red)  
> Paige Tico (1995 Volkswagon Jetta; gold)  
> Poe Dameron (1997 Mazda RX-7 FD; slate grey)  
> Kaydel Connix (2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX; green)  
> Amilyn Holdo (2003 Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33); purple)
> 
>  **Skywalkers** :  
> Ben (Organa-)Solo (1970 Dodge Charger R/T; flat black; BDS 8-71 Roots-style supercharger)  
> Han Solo & Leia Organa-Solo (1970 Oldsmobile 442; red & white)  
> Luke Skywalker (‘36 Ford Model 48; sky blue convertible)  
> Armitage Hux (1968 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500; dark blue)  
> Phasma (1969 ½ Dodge Super Bee A12; red w/black stripes)  
> Finn (1970 Chevy Chevelle LS6; white and black)  
> Chewie (1968 Plymouth Roadrunner; lime green with black)


End file.
